Home Improvements

To me, there's no better feeling than having an idea and then, voila, it's a reality. Or perhaps there is, and that's if "voila" really worked to make it happen. No, in most cases, when it comes to home improvements, its a back breaker. Unless of course, you have gazillions of dollars to pay someone to do it for you. In that case, you may likely only be satisfied with your idea and not so much the feeling you get from the "hands on" experience. The ability to look at what you yourself accomplished is such a reward. As the saying goes, "There's no better satisfaction than a job well done'"

We bought our house almost 10 years ago. We were in our mid 30s and were very ambitious as well as had the energy to update every aspect of our home to conform to one in the 21st century rather than a home you would see in a 1960s sitcom. Only one problem, our bank account was not as ambitious as we were. Little by little we did one project after another. It's taken 10 years, and we've come full circle from where we started, but we are finally about to complete the transformation and we've basically did it on our own - blood, sweat and tears.

Our final project has always been the back yard. We may have never completed it had it not been for our new family member, our dog Lucy. We have two other dogs, Bugsy and Roscoe, and they've never been a nuisance in any way. Lucy on the other hand has all the problematic characteristics of a dog. One of her favorite things to do is to find dirt or mud and dig, then track it everywhere. Me being a clean freak am at my wits end.

Solution: Have approximately 15 cubic yards, or roughly 40,000 pounds of river cobble to cover up all the dirt, at the same time giving the lawn a more manicured appearance, since it will be the only thing we will need to maintain once the project is done. Physically we knew we could do this since we did the front yard 9 years earlier. Since our home was built on a ridge, the end result is the look of a mountain high meadow complete with pine trees and a tranquil atmosphere. May I also point out that your body does a lot of changes in 9 years and despite all the sore muscles, the reward of doing it yourself is like nothing else. As of right now, the project is only two thirds done. Sore as I am from moving rock, I'm energized to complete the job. that will be done with my next paycheck where I seriously consider hiring a couple of migrant workers to assist. Final thought: Poor Lucy, there's no place for you to dig.